A former trooper once told me that the uniform items and tack used were dictated by the whims of the Regimental Commander. If the Co likes Boots, the troopers wore boots, if he liked puttees, they wore puttees. If the CO liked dark saddles the saddles were dark and so on. There are many pictures of 28's with hooded stirrups after the directive came down to remove the hoods and trim the wooden stirrups. Maybe the CO of this Regiment liked hooded stirrups.

There must be a typo in that handbook - those are the modified stirrup leathers (you can clearly see the roller buckles and double rivets). I've also seen documentation that there was a previous modification to the M1904 stirrup leathers prior to the 1928 mods, which was specified for cavalry only.

This '1922' stirrup leather modification was the removal of the rivet, and cutting off the 'doubled-lap' section of near the buckle. This allowed the leathers to be used a bit more like standard leathers, where they could be shifted to spread the wear out.

Naturally, these are difficult to find as they tended to be used up - and they look like someone's backyard leatherworking, so a lot of folks have replaced them with standard 1904s in order for the saddle to be 'correct'. Have an example tucked away somewhere - I should dig it out for a photograph.

I've always wondered about that change from the 1922 mod to the 1928. The major reasons for and benefits of the 1922 change had to do with the ability to distribute the bearing surfaces wear and reduce the bulk, which the 1928 mod seems to put right back in as well as using a really lousy roller buckle on top of it.

<b><i> Although this column announces only approved changes, it does not constitute authority to requisition personnel or equipment listed herein. </i></b>

By Maj. Shirley B. Metzger, FA, and Maj. Irvine F. Belser, Jr., FA

Army Service Forces QM Supply Catalog 3-4 is being changed to list wooden stirrups (less the leather hood) of the type furnished the Saddle, McClellan, M1928, as an additional component for the Saddle, military, Phillips', with a remark stating that either the ordinary steel stirrup or the wooden stirrup may be requisitioned according to the desire of the unit concerned. Advantages of the wooden stirrup in cold weather operations are greater warmth, increased width to accommodate the shoepac more comfortably, and less likelihood of rubber soles slipping or hanging when the rider dismounts. <hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></font id="quote"></blockquote id="quote">